8 But you, son of man, give ear to what I say to you, and do not be uncontrolled like that uncontrolled people: let your mouth be open and take what I give you.
And I went to the angel, and said to him, Give me the little book. And he said to me: Put it in your mouth; and it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.
And I have not put myself against him, or let my heart be turned back from him.
Then Moses said to Aaron, This is what the Lord said, I will be holy in the eyes of all those who come near to me, and I will be honoured before all the people. And Aaron said nothing.
Then Moses and Aaron made the people come together in front of the rock, and he said to them, Give ear now, you people whose hearts are turned from the Lord; are we to get water for you out of the rock? And lifting up his hand, Moses gave the rock two blows with his rod: and water came streaming out, and the people and their cattle had drink enough. Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you had not enough faith in me to keep my name holy before the children of Israel, you will not take this people into the land which I have given them. These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel went against the Lord, and they saw that he was holy among them.
And crying out to the man of God who came from Judah, he said, The Lord says, Because you have gone against the voice of the Lord, and have not done as you were ordered by the Lord, But have come back, and have taken food and water in this place where he said you were to take no food or water; your dead body will not be put to rest with your fathers.
And he said to me, Son of man, take this roll for your food, and go and say my words to the children of Israel. And, on my opening my mouth, he made me take the roll as food. And he said to me, Son of man, let your stomach make a meal of it and let your inside be full of this roll which I am giving you. Then I took it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.
Make use of that grace in you, which was given to you by the word of the prophets, when the rulers of the church put their hands on you. Have a care for these things; give yourself to them with all your heart, so that all may see how you go forward. Give attention to yourself and your teaching. Go on in these things; for in doing so you will get salvation for yourself and for those who give hearing to you.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ezekiel 2
Commentary on Ezekiel 2 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 2
Eze 2:1-10. Ezekiel's Commission.
1. Son of man—often applied to Ezekiel; once only to Daniel (Da 8:17), and not to any other prophet. The phrase was no doubt taken from Chaldean usage during the sojourn of Daniel and Ezekiel in Chaldea. But the spirit who sanctioned the words of the prophet implied by it the lowliness and frailty of the prophet as man "lower than the angels," though now admitted to the vision of angels and of God Himself, "lest he should be exalted through the abundance of the revelations" (2Co 12:7). He is appropriately so called as being type of the divine "Son of man" here revealed as "man" (see on Eze 1:26). That title, as applied to Messiah, implies at once His lowliness and His exaltation, in His manifestations as the Representative man, at His first and second comings respectively (Ps 8:4-8; Mt 16:13; 20:18; and on the other hand, Da 7:13, 14; Mt 26:64; Joh 5:27).
2. spirit entered … when he spake—The divine word is ever accompanied by the Spirit (Ge 1:2, 3).
set … upon … feet—He had been "upon his face" (Eze 1:28). Humiliation on our part is followed by exaltation on God's part (Eze 3:23, 24; Job 22:29; Jas 4:6; 1Pe 5:5). "On the feet" was the fitting attitude when he was called on to walk and work for God (Eph 5:8; 6:15).
that I heard—rather, "then I heard."
3. nation—rather, "nations"; the word usually applied to the heathen or Gentiles; here to the Jews, as being altogether heathenized with idolatries. So in Isa 1:10, they are named "Sodom" and "Gomorrah." They were now become "Lo-ammi," not the people of God (Ho 1:9).
4. impudent—literally, "hard-faced" (Eze 3:7, 9).
children—resumptive of "they" (Eze 2:3); the "children" walk in their "fathers'" steps.
I … send thee—God opposes His command to all obstacles. Duties are ours; events are God's.
Thus saith the Lord God—God opposes His name to the obstinacy of the people.
5. forbear—namely, to hear.
yet shall know—Even if they will not hear, at least they will not have ignorance to plead as the cause of their perversity (Eze 33:33).
6. briers—not as the Margin and Gesenius, "rebels," which would not correspond so well to "thorns." The Hebrew is from a root meaning "to sting" as nettles do. The wicked are often so called (2Sa 23:6; So 2:2; Isa 9:18).
scorpions—a reptile about six inches long with a deadly sting at the end of the tail.
be not afraid—(Lu 12:4; 1Pe 3:14).
7. most rebellious—literally, "rebellion" itself: its very essence.
8. eat—(See on Jer 15:16; Re 10:9, 10). The idea is to possess himself fully of the message and digest it in the mind; not literal eating, but such an appropriation of its unsavory contents that they should become, as it were, part of himself, so as to impart them the more vividly to his hearers.
9. roll—the form in which ancient books were made.
10. within and without—on the face and the back. Usually the parchment was written only on its inside when rolled up; but so full was God's message of impending woes that it was written also on the back.